VIDEO: ‘What We Have Been Hoping For,’ FG Welcomes U.S Strikes, Open To Global Partnership

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has welcomed the US strikes against terrorists in the North-West, saying Nigeria is open to global collaboration in the fight against insecurity.

Tuggar spoke on Friday after the US confirmed strikes in Sokoto, which it said led to the death of several terrorists in the area.

“We have been working closely with the Americans. This is what we’ve always been hoping for, to work with the Americans, work with other countries to combat terrorism, to stop the death of innocent Nigerians,” Tuggar said on Friday’s edition of Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.

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The minister said the strikes, carried out on Thursday, were at the behest of the Nigerian government, which also provided intelligence for the operation.

“It was Nigeria that provided intelligence for the US strike in Nigeria,” he said. “I spoke with the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, for 19 minutes before the strike, and we agreed to talk to President Tinubu for his go-ahead, and he gave it.”

“Now that the US is cooperating, we would do it jointly, and we would ensure, just as the President emphasised yesterday before he gave the go-ahead, that it must be made clear that it is a joint operation, and it is not targeting any religion nor simply in the name of one religion or the other,” the minister said.

“We are a multi-religious country, and we are working with partners like the US to fight terrorism and safeguard the lives and properties of Nigerians.”

Watch his interview on the morning show below: